Today I have an update for you from a previous millionaire interview.
I’m letting three years pass from the initial interviews to the updates, so if you’ve been interviewed, I’ll be in touch. 😉
This update was submitted in October.
As usual, my questions are in bold italics and their responses follow…
OVERVIEW
How old are you?
I am 70 and my wife just turned 72. My wife and I have been married for 29 years.
I retired back in 2011 at age 56, and my wife fully retired from part-time teaching earlier this year.
Do you have kids?
We have one daughter who graduated from an out-of-state university 2 years ago, who is now 24.
She lives with us in Los Angeles and has recently started her career in the Public Relations field.
What area of the country do you live in (and urban or rural)?
We live on the west side of Los Angeles about a mile from the beach.
What was your original Millionaire Interview on ESI Money?
I was originally ESI Millionaire 231, and my original interview was published in April 2020 (roughly 4.5 years ago).
Is there anything else we should know about you?
I started saving in earnest at the age of 27 to secure my company’s “match.” I continued to do this for 28 years working for the same employer.
A significant note… I was a “middle manager” employee, only reaching the level of Senior Director. I cannot overcommunicate the “Power of Compounding” as this resulted in my 401K being worth over $1.5 million when I left my employer at the relatively young age of 56.
I stopped contributing to me retirement accounts that same year (2011).
Today, at the age of 70 I am amazed at how much our investment portfolio has grown since 2011, when we retired, as our investment portfolio has nearly doubled from $2.7 million to $5.4 million!
This is surprising as over the past 14 years we still had mortgage payments and paid nearly 100% to support our daughter at an out-of-state university, which cost roughly $50,000 a year.
My wife and I travel quite a bit, having now visited over 35 countries. We can easily spend $50,000 in a single year on traveling, by far and away our largest “discretionary” expense.
Our “annual spend” has been averaging $250,000-$275,000 annually, requiring us to withdraw $100,000-$125,000 for our investment accounts. (Note: Social Security plus the pension from my 28 year employer generates roughly $150,000 annually).
My wife and I got married in 1996, and that same year we “stretched ourselves” purchasing a relatively large (3,600 square feet) home in West Los Angeles for $550,000. This turned out to be a terrific decision as we never needed to “trade up” and we are living in the same home 29 years later.
This decision saved a lot of money as it is expensive to sell your home, buy a new home, and pay for moving expenses. We know people that move every 5-7 years, and that can be quite expensive.
We have never had to deal with this, and our $550,000 home is now worth $2.4-2.5 million.
NET WORTH
What is your current net worth and how is that different than your original interview?
I retired in 2011 with a portfolio net worth of roughly $2.7 million. In 2020, when our initial interview was published, our investment portfolio was $3.8 million, and our home equity was estimated at $1.8 million for an overall net worth of $5.6 million.
Today, our investment portfolio is valued at $5.4 million, and our home is now paid off and valued at $2.4 million for a total net worth of $7.8 million.
What happened along the way to make these changes?
Last year we did receive an inheritance of $300,000; however, excluding this inheritance, our portfolio in the past 3.5 years has still substantially increased from $3.8 million to $5.4 million.
Our portfolio has benefitted from a strong stock market, notwithstanding the short decline from COVID in 2021. Looking back even further, since I started investing in 1982, the stock market has performed quite well over 28 years where I made bi-monthly contributions into my 401K never missing a paycheck contribution.
There were 3 major hiccups during this time period for investors: 1. The 2000 dot.com stock market fall, 2. The “lost decade” for investors (2000-2009) when the S+P had very modest gains and 3. The 2008-2009 Financial Crisis.
Even though these were “scary times” for investors (particularly dot.com and 08-09 Financial Crisis), I didn’t change a thing about my investing, continuing with bi-monthly contributions and making NO trades in my portfolio.
My recollection was that I was 90% invested in equities, so I took “major hits” on my portfolio for these two events.
What are you currently doing to maintain/grow your net worth?
Our investment portfolio continues to be “moderately aggressively invested” in diversified equities (75% of our total portfolio is invested in equities, with the remaining 25% being bonds and cash). We are confident in this aggressive equity exposure given are annual Social Security income ($90,000 in 2025) and a “fixed” pension from my former employer, which provides an additional income stream of $60,000 annually.
In the last five years we have increased our annual spending due to multiple international trips annually.
EARN
What is your job?
I retired from a career in Sales & Marketing from principally one employer, whom I worked for 28 years in 2011. I reached the level of “Senior Director,” never becoming a Vice President.
Note: I was “passed over” on more than one occasion. My wife worked in the garment industry for several years before going into a teaching role at a local university as a part-time lecturer for the last 15 years, before she retired earlier this year.
What is your annual income?
Given our extensive travelling (and paying for Business Class tickets when we travel internationally), our income “meets” our annual expenses. Our “guaranteed” income in 2024 was $85,000 in Social Security plus $60,000 in pension income.
In 2024, we spent $210,000 plus paid roughly $50,000 in taxes for a total expense of $260,000. Subtracting $145,000 (Social Security plus Pension) from $260,000 results in withdrawing $115,000 from our portfolio (roughly 2.5%).
We anticipate continuing to spend $250,000-275,000 annually as long as we are in our “go-go travel years.” Our modest portfolio withdrawal rate (2.5% in 2024) is why our investment portfolio continues to increase (as long as the stock market doesn’t hit a bear market).
How has this changed since your last interview?
I carefully track our annual spending, and our annual spending increased from 2020 to 2025, roughly 20% from what we were spending from 2015-2019. We now average 2+ international trips annually, plus ski trips.
I anticipate we will increase this to three international trips plus domestic and ski trips as long as our health holds out.
Have you added, grown, or lost any additional sources of income besides your career?
No.
SAVE
What is your annual spending and how has it changed since your interview?
Our annual spending has been increasing “year over year.” In 2026, we have already planned two international trips: Japan (April) and Chile/Antarctica (December), and we will undoubtedly set a new record for annual spending next year.
The Chile/Antarctica trip will be quite expensive, as we will be flying onto Antarctica as opposed to “sailing” the Drake Passage. We will also likely add a 3rd international trip in the summer, so our “travel spend” in 2026 will likely be $85,000+.
The other major development on the spending front is that our home mortgage will be paid off by the time you read this interview. Our former monthly mortgage payment was $2,750, so this will save us roughly $33,000 per year.
One thing that will change in 2028 when I turn 73 will be needing to take substantial RMDs from our 3 IRA’s which collectively total roughly $3 million. This will require us to take roughly $125,000 in the very first year.
To help offset the impact of RMDs when I turn 73, we have been taking ongoing IRA withdrawals up to the IRMAA second bracket (roughly $258,000 for last year) instead of depleting our taxable brokerage accounts.
I have been a subscriber of the website newretirement.com (now Boldin.com) for four years and have been able to model IRA withdrawals and explore the potential of IRA Roth Conversions. The Boldin.com retirement calculator is outstanding to use if you are a DIY (do-it-yourselfer).
It has been very helpful to me for tax planning. (Note: I have been a TurboTax user for the past 15 years or so).
What happened along the way to make these changes?
Actually, everything has worked out quite well from a planning perspective. I retired 14 years ago and enjoy playing golf twice a week plus ski trips plus travelling.
I am also involved in key roles with two non-profits. My wife recently retired and is now teaching new volunteers for the Red Cross (given her teaching background).
She has also discovered Pilates, which is great given her desire to have greater balance for walking and hiking.
INVEST
What are your current investments and how have they changed over the years?
While working, we were 90% invested in equities. Since retiring, we’ve always been 70%+ invested in equities.
Having 25%+ percent of $5 million in bonds/cash results in having well over $1 million in “safe” assets, so should a “bear market” hit us, we should have ample “safe assets” allowing us to cover many years of expenses without having to sell “under water” equities.
What happened along the way to make these changes?
Baby boomers like myself have been “blessed” with superior stock market returns from the early 1980s until now. Yes, there have been two major “hiccups:” the dot.com bust in 2000 and the financial crisis of 2008-09; however, when one looks beyond these two events, the stock market has been very generous to investors over the past 40 years.
Being a very “unemotional investor,” I never changed anything in either the dot.com but for the 2008-09 financial crisis, and benefited from a robust stock market following these two bear market events.
Being a “very” unemotional DIY (do-it-yourselfer) investor has worked out quite well for my family. Additionally, with the exception of a “year or two,” I have never paid a financial adviser the annual 1% fee, saving me hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past 40 years.
Instead, every few years, I will find an adviser whom I will pay an annual fee to review my portfolio for “blind spots.”
MISCELLANEOUS
What other financial challenges or opportunities have you faced since your last interview?
Honestly, nothing, except we are elated to now be “mortgage-free.” That said, I am concerned about how high current stock market valuations currently are (reminds me of 2000 before the dot.com bust).
I am fully prepared to see our $5.4 million portfolio fall 25%.
Will I do anything? No. Just hang on, knowing the “markets always eventually rebound.”
Overall, what’s better and what’s worse since your last interview?
Better: We are 72 and 70, so blessed with strong health. I have many friends that are less fortunate. My wife and I are fortunate.
With our mortgage now paid off, I am now starting to splurge for better restaurants and better hotels when travelling. Unlike many affluent retirees, I am not afraid to spend money to bring joy as my wife and I enter the “7th Chapter.”
Also, delighted we have just made our final home mortgage payment. Free at last!
Worse: Honestly, I cannot think of anything. Keeping hopes up that great health will continue to support my wife and me (and of course our daughter) as we move forward.
Health is the “wild card.” You can have all the money in the world; however, if you do not have good health, nothing else matters.
What are your plans for the future?
This is a GREAT question! Probably the best question asked thus far.
We have substantial funds in our IRAs and will begin RMDs with my wife next year when she turns 73 next year. I will turn 73 in 2028 and will then need to start taking RMDs.
In 2026 and 2027, the RMDs will be modest as my wife’s IRA is moderate. However, when I turn 73, we will be “slammed” with significant RMDs!
Our answer: “step up” giving to non-profits via “Qualified Charitable Deductions” (QCDs). My wife and I are now actively seeking to identify one or two non-profits that we can “fall in love with” and step up our charitable giving.
In addition, from an “estate planning basis,” we will need to figure out how to divide our estate between our only daughter and charitable giving. Given our lifestyle and spending patterns (we have never fallen in love with fancy cars and hold onto our cars for several years, we will undoubtedly never spend all of our assets.
Although I enjoyed reading the book, I am NOT a believer in “Die with Zero.” I suspect we will give the majority of our estate to our daughter while still giving substantially to a couple of non-profits.
This is really our biggest “assignment” at this point as we move forward: formulating a charitable gift giving and bequeathment strategies.
Given that you have a bit more wisdom and experience, what advice do you have these days for ESI Money readers?
Candidly, I always thought I would have a successful career and not have to worry about money in retirement. That said, I never thought I would be able to amass a $5 million-plus stock portfolio while having a guaranteed income stream of $150,000+ in retirement.
Reflecting upon my life… I married late (age 41), and this allowed me to save aggressively in my 30s and allowed the “power of compounding” to assist in the early growth of my personal net worth. Delaying having children can have a very positive financial impact on building up your net worth.
Also, children, are expensive. We are overjoyed to have our daughter.
If I had gotten married earlier, I’m sure we would have had 2 children as opposed to just one. I know folks who have never had children, and they have more financial assets as a result of this.
However, I feel for them as having a child, or children, is one of life’s greatest joys.
Other pieces of advice:
- Start early saving. The power of compounding is magical. If your employer offers a “matching program,” you are an utter fool if you do not take advantage!
- Additionally, live below your means and never carry credit card debt. I am 70 years I have never carried any credit card debt.
- Finally, attempt to build your investment portfolio without paying someone a 1% AUM fee.
